Sunday, November 16, 2008

Readers will know that my home department of Politics at the University of Newcastle has a large number of political philosophers --- approximately 25% of the department --- offering a wide range of specialisms that may be of interest to prospective Ph.D. students. Our political philosophers are:

Dr Derek Bell (Senior Lecturer in Politics) - works in the areas of climate change and global justice, as well as contemporary political philosophy more broadly including a special interest in Thomas Nagel's work.

Dr Thom Brooks (Reader in Political and Legal Philosophy) - I work in both contemporary political philosophy and its history with particular interests in ancient Greek philosophy, British and German Idealism, global justice, jurisprudence, and the works of Martha Nussbaum and John Rawls.

Professor Peter Jones (Professor of Political Philosophy) - works in the area of contemporary political philosophy with a particular interest in multiculturalism, rights, and toleration.

Dr Graham Long (Lecturer in Politics) - works in the area of contemporary political philosophy with a special interest in global justice.

Dr Ian O'Flynn (Lecturer in Politics) - works primarily in the area of deliberative democracy and democratic theory.

Further information about political philosophy at Newcastle can be found here. Our department is home to several journals, including the Journal of Moral Philosophy that I edit. In addition, Newcastle has produced four winners of the Sir Ernest Baker prize for best Ph.D. in Political Theory: (Bell, Long, Christiane Hiley, James Pattison) awarded by the Political Studies Association.

The Group also hosts regular conferences. Past conferences include "Punishment" (2004), "Nussbaum's Hiding from Humanity: Author Meets Critics" (2006), "Pogge and His Critics" (2006), and two workshops in the areas of deliberative democracy and political participation that took place last academic year. We will be hosting a conference "Pettit and His Critics" this March with speakers including Philip Pettit, Michael Ridge, Cecile Laborde, and myself. We also host a conference on Martha Nussbaum's Liberty of Conscience with speakers including Nussbaum, Peter Jones, Chandran Kukathas, Anne Phillips, and Sue Mendus.

Further information on graduate study in Politics at Newcastle can be found hereand information on how to apply can be found here. Anyone that would like to contact me about Ph.D. opportunties, may contact me here.

Thom Brooks

About Me

I'm Professor of Law and Government at Durham University's Law School. I'm also Associate Member of the Philosophy Department. I'm originally from New Haven, Connecticut and currently a Visiting Fellow at Yale Law School. I've previously held visiting positions at Oxford, St Andrews and Uppsala and previously taught at Newcastle University. I'm founding editor of the Journal of Moral Philosophy which I started in 2003 while a graduate student.

My current research interests are immigration law and policy (esp citizenship) and sentencing law and policy (esp theories of punishment and the use of sentencing guidelines). I'm also working on the capabilities approach and global justice as well as my longstanding interests in the work of Hegel and the British Idealists.